News: Tony G To Take Legal Action Against AGCC, Claims They Knew About FTP's Problems

PartyPoker Pro Antanas “Tony G” Guoga has revealed plans to pursue legal action against the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC).

Tony G

In an exclusive statement to his site PokerNews.com, Tony G claimed that the AGCC has failed to exhibit due diligence in their handling of the licensing of Full Tilt, and should be held responsible.

The AGCC has recently publicly spoke out claiming that they were fooled by Full Tilt into thinking the company was solvent, when in fact they had over $300 million seized by the Department of Justice between 2007 and 2011.

They also revealed they will be reviewing their policy of regulating by trusting that the financial reports of their licensees were accurate, rather than auditing them themselves.

However, Guoga claims that the AGCC knew there were problems with player funds before Black Friday, and were negligent in the handling of the situation.

“We believe they knew about it a long time ago, that security for the players’ money was not there, they hid this fact together with their auditors for years, benefiting in return. We raised it with them and they knew then and there.”

Jon Sykes, CEO of Vont Limited (A gaming consultancy company owned by Tony G) added "The security statement for the players’ money was not there, this was raised with them, and they knew that FTP was in breach of regulations back in December 2010."

The fact that Full Tilt Poker did not have a security clause in their terms & conditions was against the AGCC's regulations. The fact that the AGCC ignored this constituted negligence, according to Guoga:

"Surely such a breach of the regulations for such a long period prior to the omission being highlighted to the AGCC by Sykes in late 2010 must have initiated a full review of the operator and its financial position by that stage, which then begs the question, how long did they know about the precarious financial position before they finally pulled the plug following the DOJ indictments? We want to prove that they have responsibility, we are coming after them.”

Guoga's claim will be managed by Vont Limited. The statement also confirmed that a channel will be opened for players with money on Full Tilt to join the complaint.